1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to apparatuses and methods for the removal of gloves. The apparatus allows a wearer to remove a glove and dispose of it in one step. The apparatus may also be used to prevent contact or cross-contamination of the outer surface of the glove with the wearer or other personnel.
2. Related Art
Protective gloves are commonly used for activities where it is desired to provide a barrier between the wearer and the material handled by the wearer. For convenience and safety, disposable protective gloves are generally used to prevent contamination from one use to the next. One traditional use of gloves has been to maintain a sterile interface between a surgeon and patient. More commonly now, gloves are used to isolate the wearer from a material the wearer handles, especially when there is potential for contact with infectious, hazardous, offensive, undesirable or harmful material. For example, latex elastomeric gloves are worn routinely by dentists, surgeons, paramedics, laboratory technicians, hazardous waste handlers, automotive mechanics, sports trainers, law enforcement personnel and the like in the performance of their job duties to avoid contact with the material.
Close fitting protective gloves are typically used so as not to impair a wearer's tactile sense, a necessity in procedures in areas as diverse as surgery and auto mechanics. These gloves are often constructed of thin gauge elastomeric material, such as latex or natural rubber so as to stretch around and intimately conform to the shape of the human hand. These properties allow a wearer a relatively unimpaired sense of feel while maintaining a barrier between the wearer and the material being handled. As with any gloves, typically a wearer will don the gloves by, in succession, grasping the cuff of a glove with the fingers of one hand and pulling it over the fingers and hand of the other.
During the many procedures in which protective gloves are used, the exterior surface may become contaminated with an infectious or hazardous material being handled. Although the wearer is protected from contact with the material while the gloves are on the hands of the wearer, during glove removal the wearer may potentially come into contact with the material. With most commercially available gloves, to remove a first glove, a wearer must use a second gloved hand to assist in the removal of the first glove. Typically the wearer places at least one finger of the second gloved hand under the cuff of the first glove near the wrist or forearm of the wearer, grasps the cuff of the first glove, and pulls the first glove away from the wearer's hand. The second glove is removed in the same manner, except the wearer uses an ungloved hand to grasp the second glove and remove it. The close conforming fit of thin gauge elastomeric gloves makes the removal of gloves especially difficult.
When the first glove is contaminated, the skin around or above the cuff of the second glove may become contaminated, for example, from the finger portion of the contaminated first glove. Additionally, the first hand may become contaminated, for example, when grasping the cuff or other portion of the second glove and removing it. Thus, when protective gloves are used with infectious, hazardous or undesirable material, there is a risk of physical contact between the wearer and the material during removal of the gloves, especially when one hand is used to assist in the removal of a glove from the opposite hand. Alternatively, if another person assists the wearer with glove removal, there is a risk of cross-contamination between the wearer's glove and the other person.
In the past, there have been attempts to assist in the removal of a wearer's glove. There have also been attempts to limit the cross-contamination between the exterior surface of the gloves of a wearer and the wearer, or others, during glove removal by modifications to the glove itself. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,747 to Coffey describes a glove with a raised loop. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,579,539, 5,566,394, and 5,365,608, Flick describes a disposable elastomeric glove having a protuberance. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,467,483, Saadatmanesh describes a glove having a wrist portion that contains a removable protective cover over a gripping means.
While some of the known protective gloves reportedly help in preventing cross-contamination between contaminated gloves and the wearer during removal, these gloves are necessarily more difficult to manufacture and complicated to use. Additionally, these known gloves with modifications designed to assist in their removal are more expensive to manufacture and more expensive for the consumer than the commonly available thin gauge elastomeric latex gloves. Further, the known gloves with modifications to assist in their removal are not as readily available as the standard elastomeric latex gloves without modifications. Therefore, there exists a need for an apparatus that will aid a wearer in the removal of commercially available elastomeric latex gloves that are potentially contaminated or known to be contaminated. Additionally, there exists a need for an apparatus suitable for any application where a glove wearer desires to easily remove a glove without the assistance of the wearer's opposite hand or another person.